KWSO News for 11/8/19

Currently there are no sidewalks or bicycle lanes provided within the Highway 26 Corridor in Warm Springs. The Oregon Department of Transportation traffic volumes indicate an annual average daily traffic volume of 6700 vehicles per day. The Highway 26 WS Safety Corridor Plan Project will improve the safety of US 26 and help safety planning efforts of the WS Commercial Corridor Safety Plan. There are going to be Public Meetings on Tuesday November 12^th at the Agency Longhouse and Wednesday November 13^th at the Greeley Heights Community Building. Both meetings will start at 12pm.  This is an opportunity to visit with the representatives from the Oregon Department of Transportation for all your questions and a review of the safety corridor plans.

At the Native American Boys & Girls Club Summit in Orlando Florida this week, Warm Springs Club Director June Smith was recognized as an outstanding Boys and Girls Club Staff in Indian Country – nominated for the Northwest Region.  The Warm Springs Club operates under the umbrella of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Snohomish County who administers 23 clubs in the Northwest including Native Clubs on the Colville, Lummi, Tulalip, Spokane and Warm Springs Reservations.   This fall the Boys & Girls Club moved into the Warm Springs K thru 8 Academy and coordinates with the 21st Century Learning Program after school Mondays thru Thursdays.  They offer afterschool programming on Fridays as well as no school days, school vacations and over the summer.

As part of the N7 unveiling of their Holiday collection, Nike is going to be holding a 5K fun run & walk tomorrow at the Nike World Campus in Beaverton. Each year the Nike N7 Collection is released on November 7^th during Native American Heritage Month. Nike believes kids aren’t meant to sit still, they’re made to play. The N7 Collection supports Nike’s commitment to get kids moving through the N7 Fund, which supports organizations to provide sport and physical activity programming to kids in Native American and Aboriginal communities so they can lead healthier, happier and more successful lives. Since its inception in 2009, the N7 Fund has awarded more than $6.6 Million in grants to 252 communities and organization, reaching more than 437,000 youth.

With November being Native American Heritage Month, Central Oregon Community College (COCC) is hosting a few events soon. First up they are having a screening of: Navajo Code Talkers of World War 2 at the Madras COCC campus from 5:30-7pm on Wednesday Nov 13 and then again at the Bend Campus on Thursday Nov 14 from 4-5:30pm. This Documentary film features five warriors from the Navajo Nation who served as Code Talkers. On November 18^th and 19^th they will feature Native American Flute Music with Warm Springs Tribal Member Clem Picard. Performance on the 18^th will be at the Madras COCC Campus and 19^th at the Bend Campus, both performances start at 6pm. Then Warm Springs Hip Hop Artist: Blue Flamez (Scott Kalama) will perform on Friday Nov 22^nd at the Bend Campus starting at 6pm. All of these events are free and open to the Public. For more information you can call 541-318-3782.

A Billboard in Bend caused anger among many residents and days after putting up the billboard, the city of Bend agreed to take it down.  As reported by The Bend Bulletin The billboard shows a covered wagon drawn by a white horse and asks “Traveling East to West still Tough?” – a reference to white settlers moving into the American West. Bend’s City Council meeting on Wednesday had several people show up and explain why they found the imagery offensive. One of the residents said this ad campaign is a reminder of how naïve, ignorant an oblivious the dominant culture of this city remains, especially since November is Native American History Month. The image of the wagon has been removed from the city’s online transportation survey and Bend Spokeswoman Anne Aurand said the billboard will be replaced, but didn’t give a date. The other side of that same billboard promotes an opioid abuse prevention effort by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.

In College Football action tonight, the Oregon State Beavers will host the Washington Huskies hoping to extend their winning streak to 3 games and edge closer to the Ducks in the Pac 12 North. Game time is 7:30pm. In Local Sports: The Warm Springs K-8 Academy Boys Basketball hosted the Sisters Outlaws yesterday. The 7^th Grade boys played a close game but fell by two 30-28. 8^th Grade eagles took the court later and got the win 53-31. In action tonight: the Madras High School White Buffalo Football team is traveling to Rainier in 1^st round playoff action. The game will be broadcast here on KWSO starting at 7pm.